Victims press for more courthouse security when they testify

Monday

Jan 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMJan 28, 2008 at 12:13 AM

Advocates gathered at the State House to press legislators to deliver on a decades-old pledge to provide secure waiting rooms in courthouses where victims can wait to testify without being intimidated.

Lindsey Parietti

Lindsey Parietti

BOSTON - When Yoko Kato’s 23-year-old daughter Sherry Morton and baby grandson Cedric were stabbed to death by the boy’s father, Sean Seabrooks, in 1993, Kato went to his trial looking for closure, but instead found fear.

At a State House victims’ rights event Monday, Kato recalled being taunted by the defendant’s supporters.

“They spat on me as they passed … they followed us and imitated the way we walked,” she said.

Kato and other advocates gathered at the State House to press legislators to deliver on a decades-old pledge to provide secure waiting rooms in courthouses where victims can wait to testify without being intimidated.

When the Legislature enacted the state’s first Victims Rights Bill in 1984, it agreed to build the separate waiting areas as funding became available.

But only 12of 87 district and superior courts surveyed have established such rooms, according to the Massachusetts Office for Victims Assistance, which sponsored the awareness event.

Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, co-sponsored legislation to remedy that gap and also to allow witnesses with special needs, such as children, the elderly or disabled, to give videotaped statements instead of appearing in court.

“All too often legislators make the mistake of thinking of the defendant in terms of tougher sentencing, in terms of being tough on crime. They don’t think sometimes … in terms of the victim,” he said.

Framingham Police Detective Stacey Macaudda has heard stories similar to Kato’s from many of the approximately 300 domestic violence and sexual assault victims she deals with each year.

Maccauda said she was moved by one rape victim, who went through with her testimony, despite being approached by the defendant’s family “asking her to help the defendant, telling her she should not testify and think about what was best for the rapist.”

Attorney General Martha Coakley said she and district attorneys statewide want to level the playing field between defendants, whose rights are strictly enforced, and victims, who are often forgotten.

“We are still here today in 2008 not only with old courtrooms, but with new ones being built where this has not been recognized as crucial….this has to be done, we know it’s going to cost money we need to find the ways to do it,” she said.

Public Safety Secretary Kevin Burke, said the courts have no excuse not to set aside waiting areas where victims can feel safe.

He told victims and advocates to go to the courts “and tell them you’ve been waiting for 25 years.”

If the bill is passed, it is unclear how much it would cost the state to comply, but a feasibility study would help establish costs and time guidelines, according to Ashlee Piper, a spokeswoman for the victim assistance office.